YuGiOh: Shining Destiny
by haru hari
Summary: Chapter 4 is now up! Bethany and Tara stumble upon a duel against two different duelists and two different decks. Please RR!
1. The Challenge

**Yu-Gi-Oh: Shining Destiny**

Author's Notes: Thank you all for reading my latest attempt at fan fiction. Hopefully, this story will be many firsts for me. It will be my first Yu-Gi-Oh fan fiction, my first attempt at writing duel monsters duels, and my first non-romance piece.

A few notes on the story structure and dueling system: This story takes place around fifty years after the events that occurred in both Yu-Gi-Oh and Yu-Gi-Oh GX. All characters that are taken from both series do not belong to me. All cards belong to the creators of the Yu-Gi-Oh dueling cards, except for those I create.

As for the dueling system, just like in real duels, both duelists will start out with 8,000 LP. Tributes must be made for higher level monsters. However, monsters may be placed in face-up defense mode.

As the rain continued to pound outside of the school building, many of the students inside had taken to different activities during their inside recess. Some were working on puzzles or playing board games, a few were drawing, while some had decided on just sitting on the floor and talking, but the majority of the class had all decided on their favorite past-time, playing Duel Monsters.

The year was 2086, around fifty years after Maxamillion Pegasus' creation of the game and it was as strong as ever. Over the course of those years the popularity of the game had only decreased once, in the 2040's, when many of the top duelists of the world passed away, leaving many people uninterested in the game. This, however, was quickly resolved when Anthony Claremont took over as head of Industrial Illusions. No one was surprised by Claremont's new position in the company, as Pegasus had made the announcement many years before passing away. After the death's of both Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba, Pegasus knew his time was coming soon, and so he sent out a challenge to anyone that wished to take over his company after he died. The contestants were asked to do two things in order to win his position, first were to create ten new cards, each one following a strict set of guidelines, and secondly, they must have used those cards in a functioning deck and beat the other competitors in a winner-take-all tournament.

Not only did Claremont sweep the tournament that year, but he also did it using a toon deck, one he said that he had been working on for years. After the tournament, Pegasus collected the cards that were created by the competitors and had them sealed away, in case they were ever needed again. Anthony was then named standing President of Industrial Illusions and would become President whenever Pegasus passed away.

After taking control, Claremont's began churning out new cards that revolutionized the dueling world with new rules and effects that kept all the duelist on their toes, but his major achievement were the tournaments he held annually. No one knew how he chose the competitors for each tournament, but each year the line-up would be a mix of no names and big shots in the dueling world, with prizes that rivaled any other competition. All of this information, however, was well-known to the children who were dueling right now.

Out of all those children who were dueling, none of them seemed more into it then the two dueling in one of the corners. One of the female and the other male, both looked at the cards in their hands and on the field in complete contemplation. The girl was sixteen years old, with brown eyes and dark, red hair. She was rather thin, and wore a blue T-Shirt and jeans.

The guy was sixteen as well, with brown eyes and short brown hair. He wore a black T-shirt and khaki pants.

So far, the duel was not looking good for the girl, her LP stood at 1,700 while the boys was at 5,900. On the girls side of the field was one face-down monster card she had just tributed out and two face-down cards with two cards in her hand. The boy had Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon that he brought out lat turn with his battery man AA (3400/1000) as well all three of his Batteryman AA, one he brought back last turn with his Call of the Haunted (3000/0000 x3), he also had one face-down and Call of the Haunted in his magic and trap zone and three cards in his hand, and unfortunately, it was his turn.

Drawing his card, he smirked a bit as he looked at the girl. "So, Bethany, any chance of you just forfeiting right now and saving yourself the damage your about to take?" he asked, waving his new card in front of her. Bethany glared at him for a moment and stuck her tongue out, signaling her answer. "Fine fine, then I guess I'll have my Batteryman attack your face-down."

Bethany's glare turned into a smirk as she flipped over her card, revealing a Millennium Shield (0000/3000). "Sorry Josh, looks like my shield is just as strong as your little sparker" Bethany said, waving her hand at Josh. Josh glared for a moment before regaining his composure.

"Whatever, it just means you'll lose by a little less. I'll have my dragon attack your shield and destroy it." Bethany smiled again as she flipped over her two face-downs.

"I'll activate my Castle Walls trap card and strengthen my shields defense by 500 points, and then I'll chain it to my Continuous Destruction Punch, meaning that not only do you lose life points, but your dragons destroyed in the process.

Bethany: 1,700 LP

Josh: 5,800 LP

Josh shrugged as he placed his dragon in the graveyard and waved at Bethany, signaling the end of his turn. Drawing her next card, Bethany smiled as she saw which one it was. "I'm guessing you just drew your favorite monster." he said, raising his eyebrow.

"Yep" replied Bethany, "but I don't think I'll summon him now."

"More like you _can't_ summon him now" corrected Josh.

"Whatever, it's not like I need him anyway, I can still win with my other cards. First, I'll remove six of my rock-type monsters from play to summon my Megarock Dragon (4200/4200)" she said as she took six of her monster cards and placed them off to the side, "then I'll summon my Lost Guardian in defense mode, and thanks to my Megarock Dragon, his defense is unbeatable! (100/4200)"

Josh merely shrugged again as he waited for Bethany to continue her turn. Seeing the boredom in his face, she quickly became angry, "fine then, I'll have my dragon destroy one of your Batterymen!"

Bethany: 1,700 LP

Josh: 4,600 LP

Josh nodded as he placed one of his Batterymen in the graveyard. "And now your other two Batterymen are weakened thanks to their missing comrade." Bethany pointed out (3000/0000)  (2000/0000)

"So now what are you going to do" she asked as she ended her turn. Drawing his next card, Josh let out a small laugh.

"Well, since you called out your heavy hitters, I guess it's about time for me to get serious. I'll summon out Freed the Brave Wanderer (1700/1200)." Bethany let out a small gulp, as she knew quite well what his effect was.

"And now, per his effect, I'll remove my Voltech Dragon and Batteryman from play to destroy your dragon." Josh said, as he removed the two cards from his graveyard, "and since that monster was a NOMI, I don't expect to see it for the rest of the duel." Bethany glared at Josh as she removed her dragon from the field and began her next turn.

Looking at her latest card, her glare was once again replaced by a smile. "I'll move both my Guardian and my Shield into attack position, and then I'll play my Shield and Sword magic card!" Josh raised his eyebrow as his Wanderers stats were flipped around (1700/1200)  (1200/1700), while both of Bethany's monsters were increased in power thanks to the swap (0000/3000)  (3000/0000) (100/4200)  (4200/100).

"And now, I'll have my Shield attack your Wanderer!" Bethany said. Her victory, however, was short-lived, as Josh flipped over his face-down and revealed it to be a Negate Attack. Looking at the cards in her hand one more time, Bethany looked up at Josh. "I..end my turn."

Josh smiled a little as he drew his next card. "I know this is overkill, but I can't resist. I play my Luminous Spark field card to give each of my monsters a small boost." Bethany let out a small yelp as each of Josh's monster's were powered up further. (2000/0000 x2)  (2500/0000 x2) (1700/1200)  (2200/800).

"And now, I'll have my monsters attack yours, which will win me the game." Josh concluded, a full-blown smirk on his face as he collected his cards.

"Fine fine, you won this time, but I'll win the next round." Bethany said, only getting angrier when Josh merely waved his hand at her and walked off to join another group. After collection her cards, Bethany walked over to a desk were another young girl was sitting. This girl, like Bethany, had brown eyes, although her hair was blonde and her body was more matured then Bethany's. Wearing a red shirt and jeans, she was currently looking through her deck, until Bethany tapped on her shoulder.

Looking up, the girl saw the expression on Bethany's face. "So I'm guessing you lost again" said the girl.

"Yep, and this time I was really close too" Bethany replied, pulling a chair up to the girl's desk and taking a seat.

"Well. If it makes you feel any better, I've never beaten him either" said the girl, laying her deck on the desk.

"Tara. That's not really helping the fact that this is the twenty-seventh time he's beaten me this year." whined Bethany.

"I'm sorry, but seriously, maybe it's your deck. I mean, it is constructed rather differently" said Tara.

"What do you mean by that" asked Bethany, sounding somewhat offended.

"Think about it this way: out of all the cards in your deck, over one-fourth of them are devoted to bringing out your favorite monster" answered Tara.

"And?" asked Bethany, sounding impatient.

"And the other cards are focused around a total-defense strategy" finished Tara.

"So? The total-defense strategy has been in my family for generations" answered Bethany.

"And that would be fine if your favorite card was Exxod, Master of the Guard; but your deck strategy and favorite card have nothing in common. As I see it, you either need to create a new deck or drop your favorite card from your current deck."

Bethany pulled out her deck and began leafing through it, pulling out one particular card. "Maybe your right, maybe this card is more trouble then it's worth" she said as she placed the card back into the deck.

"But hey, don't worry about it. I know! Why don't we go to the card shop after school and see what kind of cards they have for your deck" offered Tara. Bethany though for a moment before nodding her head at Tara's proposal.

By the time classes were out, the rain had stopped for the most part, with only a light mist falling down. Making their way out of the school, the two girls walked down the block and into town, until they were in front of a small store that read "Game Palace." Inside the store, tables with duel mats on them filled most of the area, with pictures of every kind of duel monster were plastered on the wall. Against the back wall stood a glass counter that had numerous binders on top of it and hundreds of loose cards inside the case.

At the sound of the door opening, a man in his late 40's walked into the main area through a door that lead into the back carrying a small box in his hands. Looking rather old, he had a thinning hairline that was pure grey and pair of thick glasses on. He wore a light green turtleneck sweater and a pair of khakis.

"Ah, girls," the man said, putting the box on the counter and picking up an envelope that lay on top of it, "I'm glad you came, I was just about to call your houses."

"What for Mr. Villar?" asked Tara. At that moment, the store's door opened up again as Josh made his way inside the store, looking somewhat surprised to see Bethany and Tara already there.

"Ah, even better! This will save me so much time" Mr. Villar said, making his way from behind the counter, "I got the most interesting letter today, and it concerns all of you."

Pulling a piece of paper out of the envelope, he quickly scanned over it before handing it to Tara to read aloud.

"_Allan Villar, I Anthony Claremont wish to congratulate you for owning one of the one-hundred stores in the world that we have chosen to participate in the latest tournament to celebrate to release of our latest series, Shining Destiny. As owner of this store, you must select the three top duelists from your store to fly to Duelist's Island to participate in the upcoming tournament. Travel expenses and lodging fees will be paid for, and the prize for winning this tournament will be a cash prize of five-hundred thousand dollars to the store that sponsored the winning duelist, as well as a mystery prize for the duelist that wins. The tournament will begin in two weeks, so I wish both you and your chosen duelists the best of luck. Sincerely, Anthony Claremont." _

The three duelists stared at the paper for a few more seconds, making sure they read it correctly.

"So, let me get this straight," started Josh, "Claremont is sponsoring a huge tournament, and you've decided to chose us three as your top duelists?"

"That's right!" responded Mr. Villar, "you three have placed top honors in each tournament I've held here at the store, so it's natural to send you all to complete for the gold!"

Suddenly, Mr. Villar snapped his fingers together as he walked behind the counter again. "I almost forgot, along with that letter I received a box of booster packs for the Shining Destiny series," he said as he opened the box, showing the three it's contents, "if you all want to, you can see if there are any cards you want to add to your deck."

Bethany and Tara took out their decks and began to leaf through them, seeing which cards they could do without. Josh, on the other hand, took out his deck and placed it on the counter as Mr. Villar gave him a strange look.

"The reason I came in here in the first place was to trade in all the cards in my current deck. My Electo-static deck has become too boring to play and I finally decided on a deck style that would always keep the game interesting."

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a sheet of notebook paper and handed it to Mr. Villar.

"These are the cards I'll need for my new deck. It's short a few, so I'll see what the new packs have to make my deck game-worthy."

At the mention of a new deck, Bethany began to look at her deck again. What Tara had said was true, her deck was a mixture of her favorite card and her families strategy. As of right now, she could beat the average duelist in her town, but if she were to go up against the top duelists in the world, there's no chance she could win.

"What's wrong?" asked Tara, "thinking of redoing your deck too?"

"Yeah," replied Bethany, "I'm just not sure which direction to go in. What about you and your deck?"

Tara shook her head, "my decks strategy was created by my grandmother and won her countless numbers of duels, and luckily for me, her favorite monster turned out to be my favorite monster as well."

Bethany nodded in agreement as she pulled out her favorite card again, "guess it's time for me to decide."

_Duelist Island_

A man in his 30's sat in a large armchair, dressed in an expensive looking red suit. His black hair was tied back, reaching the bottom of his back. Looking through a book of names, he looked up as a man in a black suit entered the room.

"Mr. Claremont sir, it's been confirmed that each of the stores that was selected has received their invitation, and many of them have already sent in the names of those they are sending."

Giving out a small chuckle, Claremont placed the book on a nearby table before placing his hands on his lap. "Excellent, it looks like this tournament will turn out like I expected."

"There's more sir. Apparently, after reading about the large prize amount, many of the stores went out and hired professional duelists to duel for them."

Claremont chuckled again, "even better, this will ensure that this tournament will help me acquire just what I'm looking for."

Bethany at on her bed, her current deck and hundreds of other cards sprawled all around her.

"Alright, if I chose to keep my favorite card, I can use this style of deck, but if I keep with family tradition, I can add these cards. The problem is choosing which style of deck to use."

Looking through the cards one last time, Bethany let out a large sigh before reaching over to her nightstand and grabbing a coin.

"Alright, heads I keep my favorite card, tails I keep the family deck style."

Holding the coin in her hand for a few more seconds, she threw it in the air, letting in land on the bed before looking at it.

"Alright then, looks like this is it."

That's it for the first chapter! In the next chapter: Bethany, Tara and Josh make it to Duelists Island and find out just what the rules for this tournament are. We'll also get to see Claremont in a demonstration duel, all in the next chapter, "A New Twist"

As a side note, this will probably end up being a chapter-a-week story, but right now I need help deciding on something. I'm not sure whether I want to incorporate the deck master style into this tournament. Please review this chapter and say whether or not it would be a good idea to add this in. I'm also in need of a beta-reader for this story, for if anyone's interested, please add that into your review as well, Thanks!


	2. A New Twist

**Chapter 2: A New Twist**

For Bethany, Tara, and Josh, the remaining two weeks flew by. Luckily, they had received the letter in the week before summer break started, meaning they wouldn't have to miss any school.

After saying goodbye to their families, the three boarded a plane that would make a stop at the small Duelists Island that was situated some ways off from any other land.

The flight itself was rather boring, as Bethany and Tara continued to look over there decks and Josh napped behind them.

Finally, they felt the jolt of the plane descending before hearing it's wheels hit the tarmac. Stepping out of the plane, the three looked around the survey the island. At the moment, they appeared to be on a small landing strip close to the waters.

In front of them was a large bus that was already almost filled with other people that Bethany figured were other duelists.

"Attention all duelists," came a voice from one of the speakers on the bus, "will you please board the bus so we can escort you to your accommodations for the tournament.

Tara quickly began to make her way over to the bus, followed by Bethany who quickly caught up to her, while Josh took his time walking over to the bus.

Once they found some available seats and the bus took off, Bethany scanned the bus to see what competition she was up against. Most of the were unfamiliar to her, although her jaw dropped once she saw a few of the faces in the back.

"That's Carl Linston, the top duelist of England, and Tia Xiolong, the top duelist of China. How were they lucky enough to get into this tournament?" asked Bethany, pointing out the two to Tara.

"I'm not sure, but with those two there, I'm sure other duelists of their caliber will be here too. Looks like we'll have to really be at the top of our games if we want to win this time." replied Tara.

Bethany nodded as the bus slowed down to a stop in front of large building. Once Bethany and Tara stepped out of the bus, both of their faces fell as they looked at the building.

By their count, it had to be at least fifty floors tall and fifty meters wide, but what surprised them the most were the duel monsters that were scattered around the building.

The main awning was supported by two Summoned Skulls, with a Hibikime and Sonic Maiden poised in front of the main entrance. The outside walls of the building seemed to be held up by statues of different Duel Monsters.

Once inside the main lobby, the three saw even more Duel Monsters that were scattered against the walls, inside the elevator, and in the stairwell.

Walking up to one of the counters, they were greeted by a woman wearing a blue suit who was furiously typing away at her computer.

"Bethany Orwell, Tara Helmond, and Josh Phillips. The three duelists from the Card Palace in San Diego, California. You all well be staying in rooms 318, 319, and 320," the woman said, handing each of them their own passcard, "inside each of your rooms you'll find a box containing your instructions for the tournament. Please enjoy yourselves for the rest of your stay."

After reaching their rooms, the three said their goodbyes in order to see what each of their rooms looked like.

Upon entering her room, Bethany was astonished at the size of the room. A desk sat against the furthermost wall of the room with a lamp and pad of paper on it. A television sat opposite a king sized bed in the middle of the room. While two doors, one of which led to the closet and the other to the bathroom, stood to Bethany's right.

What caught Bethany's attention at the moment, though, was a large box that was laying in the middle of the bed.

Placing her suitcase in the closet, she walked over to the bed and lifted the top of the box to see what was inside.

Bethany let out a small gasp as she saw the contents, a XE7 Duel Disk, the latest in holographic dueling technology. Pulling the disk out of the box, Bethany placed her arm inside the holder to see how it fit, finding that it fit perfectly.

Suddenly, a knock came from her door. Running over to open it, she saw Tara standing in the doorway, a similar duel disk on her arm.

"Look like you found your disk too" Tara began, making her way inside the room, "can you believe they gave each contestant their own duel disk, normally they just use dueling platforms to save on money."

Nodding her head, Bethany looked into the box once more and found an envelope situated at the bottom of the box.

Pulling it out and opening it up, she pulled out the letter that was inside it and began to read it aloud.

"_Ms. Bethany Orwell, congratulations on being one of the duelists chosen to compete in the "Shining Destiny Tournament" help by myself, the President of Industrial Illusions, Anthony Claremont. Just for being in this tournament you've already been awarded the latest in duel disk technology that was also located in this box. Feel free to take this disk with you once you leave the island, but we assure you that the top prize in this tournament is worth much more then all of the duel disks here combined. To find out about the rules of this tournament, please come to the main ballroom on this hotel at exactly 5:30 P.M._

_Sincerely, Anthony Claremont."_

Looking over at Tara to make sure she heard, she quickly looked at her watch to check the time.

"It's 5:24" she said as she placed her deck inside the duel disk's deck holder, "let's get down to this meeting.

The main ballroom itself probably took up half of the area of the first floor. It's primary purpose was to hold lavish parties, at the moment it was filled with chairs that held hundreds of duelists from around the world.

Finding two empty seats next to each other, Tara and Bethany had no clue where Josh had went, after knocking on his hotel room door and getting no answer.

At exactly 5:30, the main lights of the room went out, as two stage lights turned on and focused on the stage in front of everyone.

A few seconds later, a man dressed in a black suit wearing a pair of sunglasses walked out onto the stage and over the microphone.

"Can I have your attention please," the man said, waiting until everyone was silent, "I'd like the congratulate you all making it here to the Shining Destiny Tournament. This will be a tournament like none you've ever seen before, but now it is my honor to introduce you all to the President of Industrial Illusions , Mr. Antony Claremont."

The entire ballroom erupted into applause as Anthony Claremont made his way onto the stage, waving to everyone as he made his way over to the microphone.

"Thank you, thank you all for that wonderful welcome" Claremont said as the applause died down, "I'd like to thank you all for coming to my Duelist Island. As you are all aware, each of you is now in the running to become the winner of the Shining Destiny Tournament, whose top prize will be something that will amaze everyone involved. "

As he made his last remark, another man wearing the same outfit as the first came up onto the stage, this one though was wearing a duel disk and was carrying another in his hands. Taking the disk from the man, Claremont took a moment to place it on his arm before activating it.

"The rules for dueling in this tournament will the same from your normal tournament, with one exception. In this tournament I will be implicating something known as the deck master system."

Claremont waited until the other man activated his disk before pulling out a card from his deck.

"With this system, before every battle you will choose one monster card to act as a deck master. This monster will remain on the field at all times, although they will not occupy a monster space and cannot safeguard your lifepoints."

Taking a moment to look at the card he chose, Claremont placed it into a small slot located on the side of the disk. Suddenly, a while of pink smoke and sparkles surrounded Claremont. When the smoke subsided, the image a small creature blue face and red hair, wearing a purple robe sat on his shoulder.

"For this demonstration I have chosen for my deckmaster to be the Toon Masked Sorcerer (900/1400)."

On the opposite side of the field, the other man placed a card in his slot, but instead of pink smoke, the man became surrounded by a large pillar of ice. A few seconds passed before the pillar of ice shattered, leaving behind the man who was now standing in front of a human-shaped figure that wore a brown suit and white mask with light blue hair.

"And it appears that my bodyguard has chosen Neo Aqua Madoor to be his (1200/3000). Excellent, a fine choice indeed."

Taking a moment, Claremont and his bodyguard drew their opening hands before Claremont drew his sixth.

"Now, in each duel, your deckmasters will each have a special ability that use in the duel. Some will be extremely helpful, while others you will find to be worthless in your deck, but remember that each duel monster has a different ability and you can choose a new deckmaster for each of you duels."

Claremont: 8,000 LP

Bodyguard: 8,000 LP

Looking at his current hand, Claremont gave a look of disapproval to what he saw.

"My my, this hand isn't the best it could be, but thankfully I have my deckmaster to help me out with that."

Turning his head look at his toon, he gave a quick nod before the toon grinned and jumped off of his shoulder and into his deck tray. A few moments later he reappeared, carrying a card that he handed over to Claremont.

"You see, the Toon Masked Sorcerers ability is called 'Comedic Magic', and by giving up 500 of my lifepoints, I can add one magic card with 'Toon' in it's name to my hand."

Claremont: 7,500 LP

Bodyguard: 8,000 LP

"Now I'll play the magic card I just drew, Toon World!"

Placing the card on the tray, a large WIZZZ! could be heard from afar. Suddenly, a large green storybook dropped out of the sky and landed in front of Claremont with a loud SPLAT!

Claremont: 6,500LP

Bodyguard: 8,000LP

"And now that Toon World is in play, I'll special summon two of my monsters. Get ready to meet Toon Red Mermaid and Toon Gemini Elf!"

Placing another two cards on the field, the large book began to spin wildly in mid-air, before stopping and opening its pages, allowing two forms to jump out from it.

The first was a large clam with huge eyes, that once it opened reveled that young mermaid that held a bow and arrow in her hands (1400/1500). The second form was actually two slender females and landed next to the clam and began to giggle to themselves as the looked at their opponent (1900/900).

"I'll play two cards face-down and that'll complete my turn" Claremont said as two face-down card appeared behind his toons.

Drawing his sixth card, the bodyguard placed took one of his cards and placed it on the tray.

"I'll summon Muka Muka in attack mode!"

In front of the bodyguard appeared a small crab with holes in his shell (600/300). Looking at the toons in front of it, the small crab turned around to look at the bodyguard. After looking at his hand, the crab began to inhale air through the holes in his shell, allowing his body to increase in size. (600/300) - (2100/1800)

"And now my Muka Muka will attack your attack your Toon Elf" the bodyguard said, pointing his finger at the Elves.

Letting out a small grunt, the crab scuttled across the stage as Claremont pressed a button on his disk.

"I hate to spoil your fun, but since I detest the sight of violence I'll play Toon Defense and redirect the attack at my lifepoints."

As the trap card lifted, a card flew out of the card and attached itself to the Toon World book, flinging it in front of the Muke Muka, just as it was about to attack.

Giving the book a confused look, the Muka Muka raised it's claw and brought it down on the storybook before making his way back over to his masters side of the field.

"True, it may have cost me some lifepoints, but my toons are more then worth it" Claremont said as his lifepoint counter clicked down.

Claremont: 4,400 LP

Bodyguard: 8,000 LP

"I'll end my turn with that" the bodyguard said as Claremont drew his next card.

"Well, I think now I'll summon my Toon Cannon Soldier!"

The storybook began to spin again, but this time when it opened up a large boom sounded from inside it's pages a cartoonish looking machine blasted it's way out of the book and next to the Toon Elf (1400/1300).

"And now I'll pay the lifepoints needed to have my two Toons attack you directly!" With a flourish of his hands, his Toon Mermaid and Toon Elf began to giggle.

Drawing her bow back, the Toon Mermaid fired an arrow directly at the Muka Muka, but upon reaching the crab it curved around it, hitting the bodyguard in the chest. At the same time, the Toon Elves had disappeared from the field, only to reappear behind the bodyguard, giving him a well placed kick to the back.

From the audience, Bethany leaned over to Tara, "and he said he was against violence."

"And let's not forget about my Toon Elf's special ability" said Claremont.

Just as the elves were about to grab a card from the bodyguards hand, his Aqua Madoor quickly held his hands out, causing a wall of ice to form in-between the elves and the bodyguard.

"Not this time. My deckmaster's ability is called 'Frozen Assets' and it prevents me from losing any cards from my hand due do any cads effect" the bodyguard said as the Toon Elves flew back over to Claremont's side of the field.

"Oh dear! Whatever shall I do!" Claremont said false astonishment, "I know! I'll use my Toon Cannons special ability and sacrifice my mermaid to take away more of your lifepoints!" Once again, the Toon Mermaid began to giggle as she and her clam began to glow before turning into a ball of light that was quickly absorbed by the Toon Cannon Solider.

Taking a moment to adjust his sights, the Toon Cannon yanked on a cord on his side, causing a cannon ball to fly out of him and hit the bodyguard square on the chest.

As the bodyguard took a moment to compose himself, Claremont waved his hand, signaling the end of his turn.

Claremont: 3,900 LP

Bodyguard: 4,200 LP

Drawing his next card, the bodyguard placed another card on the tray. "I play Graceful Charity!" Suddenly, an angel descended down in front of him as he drew three cards from his deck, but before the angel could take any cards from him, his Aqua Madoor shoot another wall of ice in-between them, causing the angel to fly back up out of sight.

"Then I'll play cost down, and by discarding one card I can summon a high level monster without any cost, like my Enraged Muka Muka."

Placing the card on the tray, another crab appeared in front of the bodyguard, this one however was much larger then the original Muka Muka and seemed to be giving off a faint glow (1200/600). Just like the other one, the Enraged Muka Muka turned around the see the size of the bodyguards hand before sucking in air through the holes in it's shell, growing a sizeable amount while the original Muka Muka took notice of it and began to grow as well (1200/600) - (3200/2600) (2100/1800) - (3000/2700).

"And now my Enraged Muka Muka will attack your Toon Elf!"

The large crab began making scuttling over to the elf, and as he raised his claw to attack, Claremont pressed another button on his disk, causing a mirror to appear in front of the crab. The Muka Muka's claw hit the mirror, causing a surge of energy to fly back, hitting both crabs and causing them to shatter.

"Looks like my Mirror Force saved my toons this time, doesn't it?" said Claremont as he smirked over his cards.

"I'll…special summon my deckmaster to the field in defense mode" the bodyguard said as the Neo Aqua Madoor made his way in front of him, crouching down and shielding his body with his arms.

"Ah yes" began Claremont, drawing his next card while looking out at the audience, "at any time to you to during your turn, you may special summon your deckmaster to the field. While it is on the field, it is immune to any magic or trap cards that would destroy it, but if it is destroyed in any other way, you automatically lose the duel, no matter how many lifepoints you still have."

Looking at his hand once more, Claremont gave a small nod. "I think it's time we end this duel, so I'll sacrifice both of my toons to summon my Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon!"

In a flash, both toons on the field were sucked back into the storybook. For a moment, everything was quiet, but suddenly a large flash erupted from the storybook and lightening flew out from it's pages.

As the lightening faded, the toon version of Kaiba's favorite monster flew out of the book, landing in front of Claremont and turning to audience to blow some kisses to everyone (3000/2500).

"You just have to ham it up, don't you" Claremont asked to the as it turned to face him, only to began bawling at the remark.

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore, because now I'll play Rush Recklessly to give my toon the power it needs to defeat your deckmaster!" Claremont declared.

The Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon stopped crying as a surge of energy coursed through it's body, causing his muscles to grow immensely (3000/2500) - (3700/2500).

"Now my precious toon, attack the Neo Aqua Madoor with toon white lightening!"

Opening up it's mouth, the toon began to suck in air until it's stomach was twice the size that it normally was. As sparks began to form around it's mouth, the dragon unleashed a blast of energy from it's mouth that, upon impact, destroyed the Neo Aqua Madoor.

Claremont: 3,900 LP

Bodyguard: Deckmaster Defeated

"And that's game ladies and gentlemen" said Claremont as he and his bodyguard deactivated their disks, "I suggest you try a few different deckmasters to figure out which one complements your deck the best. "

"As for how to win this tournament, at the beginning of this tournament you will be given two data points. At the start of each duel you will risk as many of your data points as you wish with your opponent. If you win the duel you get your opponents data points, lose and you lose yours. If your one of the first twenty to earn ten data point you will be admitted onto the top floor of the Duel Island Hotel, where you will qualify for the finals of this tournament, but if you lose all of your data points at any time, you are out of the tournament and must spend the rest of your time here inside your room."

Bethany looked down at her disk and then around at the crowd, trying to find an easy first win.

"But be warned, duelists," Claremont said, pointing his finger out to the crowd, "your progress will be monitored at all times, and once you have accumulated five data points, a special group of duelists named 'Eliminators' will begin to challenge you. You must accept these duels, and if you win, you win be given both the wagered data points as well as a rare card not seen outside of the tournament, but if you lose you will automatically be eliminated from the tournament."

A few of the duelists straightened their posture at Claremont's last statement. Handling regular duelists would be at least somewhat easy, but trying to win against duelists that were hand-picked by Claremont to win was going to be a whole other task.

"The duels will begin in exactly one hour, I suggest you spent this time making sure your deck is perfect. Until we meet again, I wish you all the best of luck!"

The crowd began to cheer again as Claremont made his way off stage. As everyone began filing out of the ballroom, Bethany and Tara stayed behind to talk.

"So, what should we do now?" asked Bethany.

"Well, since we've already worked on our decks enough, I suggest we wait until the start of the tournament and find some duels." replied Tara.

Bethany nodded her head, "but let's stick together, that way we can at least have someone to be around while we're dueling."

Tara nodded in agreement as they made their way out of the ballroom and waited for the start of the tournament.

**Deckmaster Abilities:**

**Toon Masked Sorcerer: "Comedic Magic"- By sacrificing 500 lifepoints you may move one magic card with "Toon" in it's title from your deck to your hand. Shuffle you deck afterwards.**

**Neo Aqua Madoor: "Frozen Assets"- Negate any card effects that force you to discard cards from your hand. **

**In the next chapter: The tournament begins! Bethany's new deck is revealed, but will it be enough to stop a group of Eastern warrior? Find out in "Unseen Foes."**


	3. Unseen Foes

**Chapter 3: Unseen Foes**

**Some time ago, I faced an opponent who used an Eastern Warrior deck, that focused on monsters of Eastern Origin. Surprisingly though, he chose to leave out the most obvious of the Eastern monsters, stating that they were too weak.**

**I think I need to have a talk with him.**

**0000**

After the meeting with Claremont, many of the duelists made their way outside of the hotel and out into the island.

Upon inspection, one would find it in the same condition it had been in when Pegasus held his first duel there over fifty years ago. The only difference know was that the different terrains had been removed from normal gameplay, as it had been too difficult to keep up with all of the current field cards in circulation.

Upon leaving the hotel, Bethany and Tara were given a map of the island that showed the different types of terrain, as well as the help stations that were placed all over the island, in case someone got lost.

"So, where should we head to first?" asked Tara as she surveyed the map.

"Well, I'm not a big fan of the desert, and it's probably too cold by the ocean, so why don't we head over to the forest area first" suggested Bethany, pointing out a group of trees that were not more then a ten minute walk from there current position.

**00000**

When they reached the edge of the small forest, the first thing they noticed was the lack of duelists in the area.

"Maybe they all decided to stay near the hotel, to make it easier to find other duelists" suggested Bethany, trying to get a better look inside the forest.

"Yeah, but you'd expect to see at least one other duelist out here, I mean, it's not that far from the starting point," replied Tara as she looked at her watch, "it's 6:58, the tournament's scheduled to begin in one minute."

Inching her way closer to the forest entrance, Bethany hid behind one of the trees, as if trying to sneak up on someone.

"And exactly what are you doing?" asked Tara, a confused look on her face.

"I've seen enough movies to know that as soon as the clock strikes seven, someone's going to try to jump out and attack us, so I'm going to get the upper hand" answered Bethany, still peering out from behind the tree.

Tara only shrugged her shoulders as she looked back down at her watch. "4, 3, 2, 1, and the tournament is now under way" Tara remarked as she watched Bethany continue to stare into the forest.

"Excuse me" came a voice from behind the pair, causing Tara and Bethany to scream and jump into the air.

Bethany turned around, expecting to see an intimidating figure; instead they saw a young boy around sixteen years old. He had predominantly Japanese features with short black hair and wore a blue and red striped shirt and jeans.

"God!" Bethany said, giving her heart a few seconds to calm down, "you nearly gave us both heart attacks!"

The young boy took a step back, a look of fear on his face. "I…I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but notice that you were hiding behind that tree, and I thought that perhaps there was some sort of wild animal in the tress you were hiding from."

Tara couldn't help but let out a laugh at that remark, "nope, no animal here but Bethany."

Bethany glared over at Tara before smiling at the boy. "Sorry if we looked a little strange. My name's Bethany and this is Tara."

The boy took a few steps forward to shake Bethany's hand, "and my name's Kyosuke, Kyosuke Ichigoji."

After shaking his hand, Bethany noticed the duel disk situated on his other arm. "Hey, that's right! You must be a duelist too! Well, since the tournament's already started and there's no one else around here, why don't you and me duel?"

Kyosuke thought for a moment before nodding his head, "but let's only wager one data point each, that way we can both still duel after this."

Bethany nodded again as she walked back a few paces and activated her duel disk.

"_That's right," _thought Bethany, as she watched Kyosuke leaf through his deck, _"we have to pick a deckmaster before each duel."_

Taking her deck out of its holder, she went through it, trying to find a god monster.

"_Well, I only have one of this guy in my deck, and he's not that powerful, so maybe he'll make a better deckmaster."_

Placing her card in the slot, Bethany looked over at Kyosuke. "My deckmaster will be The Illusory Gentleman!"

As soon as her card was completely in the disk, a bright flash covered her side of the field as a man dressed in an odd-looking orange suit and cape appeared behind Bethany (1500/1600)

Kyosuke nodded as he placed his card in the slot. "And my deckmaster will be the Armed Ninja."

All was quiet was a moment, until suddenly a bird cawed overhead causing Bethany to look up, but as soon as she look back at Kyosuke, she noticed a man wearing black armored outfit and blue helmet carrying a staff with a cresset blade behind him.

"Alright then, let's begin this duel!" Bethany said as their lifepoint meters both hit 8,000.

"_Bethany."_

Bethany jumped a little as she turned to see her deckmaster looking at her. "Did you just say something?" she asked.

"_Of course I did"_ the Gentleman replied, _"I thought it would be helpful to you if you knew what my deckmaster power was."_

"Ah, okay" said Bethany, "so what exactly is it?" The Gentleman leaned over and whispered something into her ear, causing her to grin. "Alright, that works fine with me!"

**Bethany: 8,000 LP**

**Kyosuke: 8,000LP**

As both duelists drew their opening hands, Kyosuke motioned over to Bethany. "I'll let you have the first move."

"Thanks" replied Bethany, as she drew her sixth card, "I'll place one card in defense mode and another card face-down, and end my turn with that."

Two cards appeared in front of Bethany as Kyosuke drew his next card. "I'll summon my Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke in attack mode!"

Laying the card down, the silver clad ninja jumped out from behind Kyosuke and pulled two kunai from his side pouch.

"Now my ninja will attack your face-down card!"

The Grandmaster Ninja leaped into the air and threw both of his kunai at the face-down card. As the kunai flew at the card, it was suddenly replaced by two large bookshelves whose shelves were adorned with unlit lanterns. As the kunai hit the shelves, they seemed to bounce off while the Grandmaster Ninja landed back on the field.

"Sorry, but it looks like my Royal Magical Library (0000/2000) was too strong for your ninja to break" taunted Bethany.

Kyosuke let out a small grunt as he placed a card face-down and ended his turn.

**Bethany: 8,000 LP**

**Kyosuke : 7,800 LP**

"_Alright, my library saved me for one turn, but with his ninja's effect, he'll destroy it next turn no matter what,"_ thought Bethany as she drew her next card, _"well, this won't help, but at least it'll protect my life points."_

"I'll place this card face-down and that'll be all."

**00000**

Seated in his study, Claremont flipped through the latest issue of _Duelists Monthly_, trying to find something of interest, until one of his bodyguards walked in.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, sir" the man said, giving a small bow.

"What is it, Alabaster?" asked Claremont, closing the magazine as placing on the side table.

"Well sir, out of the three-hundred duelists on the island, almost all of them are entered into a duel at the moment, and although none of them have ended yet, many of the duelists are looking quite impressive."

"Is that all you interrupted my quiet time for?" asked an impatient Claremont.

"No sir, it seems that two of the duelists might have broken one of your rules." Pulling out a sheet of paper, Alabaster walked over and handed it to Claremont.

"My my" remarked Claremont, looking over the paper, "I will say, even though this does seem quite unethical, it doesn't violate any of the rules I've placed down, so it seems we can do nothing but sit back and watch what happens."

"Yes sir, understand" said Alabaster as he made his way out of the room.

After the door was shut, Claremont took a moment before looking over the paper once more.

"I was only told to chose one, this might end up posing a problem if it gets too out of control."

**00000**

Drawing his next card, Kyosuke quickly adjusted his glasses before placing his next card down.

"I'll summon the Strike Ninja in attack mode."

Just like Grandmaster Ninja, another ninja, this one clad in all black jumped out from behind Kyosuke and stood beside his partner (1700/1200).

"And then I'll play Stop Defense, changing you library into attack mode!"

Placing the card on the disk, Bethany watched as the bookshelves gave a small rattling noise as the shook a little, before quieting down.

"But now that you've played a spell card, my library gains a counter" remarked Bethany as she watched one of the lamps hanging on the shelves light up.

"It won't matter after this!" said Kyosuke, pointing at the library, "now my Grandmaster will attack your library!"

Once more, Grandmaster Sasuke jumped into the air and launched his kunai at the shelves. This time, once the hit the bookshelves, each kunai let off a small explosion that caused the bookshelves to explode into hundreds of pieces.

**Bethany: 6,200 LP**

**Kyosuke: 7,800 LP**

"And now my deckmaster's ability activates!" Kyosuke said, "it's called the Ninjitsu Art of Replication. Whenever one of my monsters with the word 'ninja' in it's name destroys one of your monsters in attack position, I can special summon another of it's kind as long as I discard a card from my hand."

Taking a card from his hand, he quickly placed it in the discard tray, before the card was quickly shot back out of the slot.

"Hey, I think there's something wrong with your disk" Tara pointed out.

"Hehe, nope" replied Kyosuke, "the monster I discarded was my Roc from the Valley of Haze, and if he's discarded from my hand to the graveyard, he goes back to my deck instead, but enough about that monster, my deckmaster is about to give you something else to worry about."

Kyosuke looked back and nodded to his Armed Ninja. Shoving his staff into the ground, the Armed Ninja began to bring his hands together in a series of hand signs.

Suddenly, a gong could be heard from the distance as a second Grandmaster Sasuke appeared beside the first.

"Now my second Sasuke, attack Bethany's face-down!"

Just like the first, the second Sasuke threw his kunai at the face-down, which changed into the image of a young boy with yellow hair dressed in blue holding a staff. The kunai hit the boy as he instantly shattered.

"That was my Apprentice Magician, and when he's destroyed in battle, I can special summon a level 2 spellcaster from my deck in face-down position, and I think I'll choose my second Apprentice." said Bethany, as she placed a card on her disk.

"Fine then, Strike Ninja, attack her second magician with flash-step strike!"

The ninja gave a quick nod before vanishing into thin-air. A moment later he reappeared in the air above the card before launching a set of shuriken downward.

The card was quickly destroyed as Bethany set her third Magician onto the field.

"I'll end my turn with another card face-down" said Kyosuke.

Drawing her card, Bethany smiled a bit as she placed it on the field. "I'll play my Pot of Greed magic card."

A large, green pot appeared in front of her, grinning at her opponent as she drew two more cards from her deck.

"And now I'll sacrifice my last Apprentice Magician to summon my Chaos Command Magician."

As Bethany's face-down card disappeared from the field, a different figure appeared in it's place. A man dressed in a dark-green outfit with a matching cape and hat stood in front of Bethany, brandishing it's staff (2400/1900).

"And now I'll use my own deckmaster's ability. It's called 'Unsure Fate", and for it to work I have to have a spellcaster out on the field. Then I get to show you another spellcaster from my hand who has the same level as the one on the field does."

Taking a card from her hand, Bethany flipped it over to show a monster called Cybernetic Magician.

"Finally, I get to flip a coin. If I call it right, then this monster gets special summoned to the field, but if I call it wrong then my monster is removed from play, it's that simple."

Behind Bethany, The Illusory Gentleman tipped his hat before producing a coin from out of nowhere and tossing it into the air.

"Heads!" shouted Bethany, as the coin landed on the ground head side up.

"Yes! So now my Magician takes center stage" said Bethany, placing the card down.

Almost instantly, a magician similar to the first appeared on the field, although this one was dressed in silver garments and held a silver staff (2400/1000).

"Now, Chaos Commander, attack the Strike Ninja with Chaotic Blast" commanded Bethany, as her monsters staff began to glow, before letting out a burst of dark energy that destroyed the ninja upon impact.

"Now attack the Grandmaster Ninja on the left Cybernetic Magician!"

The Cybernetic Magician began to attack as Kyosuke pressed two buttons on his disk, allowing both of his face-down cards to flip up.

"I activate both of my copies of Ninjitsu Art of Transformation! Now by sending both of my ninjas to the graveyard, I can special summon two monsters from my deck!" said Kyosuke.

Suddenly, both of his ninjas began to form hand signs as their bodies were encased in white smoke. As the smoke cleared two completely different monsters stood in their place.

The first was a large, brown bird whose head was covered by a skull helmet (2400/1400). The second was large, blue koala whose face seemed to emanate a look of peace (2700/2000).

"Now that my ninjas are gone, you can say hello to my Roc from the Valley of Haze and my Big Koala!" Kyosuke said.

"In that case, I'll call off my attack and end my turn with another face-down card."

Kyosuke grinned as he drew his next card, before being interrupted by Bethany.

"Let me ask you something. Why run a ninja deck? I mean, they're great and all, but compared to a lot of the other monsters out there, they kind of come up short."

Kyosuke's grin became a scowl at that remark. "First of all, my ninja's don't 'come up short', they've been doing just fine in this duel, and secondly, I run a ninja deck for family pride."

"Family Pride?" asked Tara.

"Yes, believe it or not, my family lineage runs deep into the Meiji Era of Japan, so deep in fact that one of my ancestors is believed to be one of the founders of the ninjitsu practice, and so I run a ninja deck so that I'll never forget them." answered Kyosuke.

"Now, since I don't want your Cybernetic Magician using his effect anytime soon, I'll have my Big Koala destroy him with down under rage!"

The Big Koala began to charge at Bethany's Magician before she pressed a button on her own disk.

"Since he's about to be destroyed, I'll play my Magical Dimension spell card and use him as a sacrifice!"

The spell card lifted, as chains shot out of it, entangling both the Cybernetic Magician and Kyosuke's Big Koala before both monsters and the chains disappeared from the field.

"And now I'll special summon my second Cybernetic Magician from my hand" said Bethany, as another Cybernetic Magician appeared on the field.

Kyosuke bit his lip a little as he looked at the field, "I guess I'll switch my other monster to defense mode and end my turn."

The giant bird landed on the ground and shielded itself with it's wings as Bethany drew her card.

"Alright! And now it's time for my favorite monster to take to the field, but to do that I'll have to sacrifice both spell casters on the field to bring him out."

Both spellcasters nodded in approval as the disappeared from the field.

"And now I'll summon the Sorcerer of Dark Magic to the field!" Placing the card down, the field remained quiet for a moment, before a dark vortex opened up on the field.

As Bethany, Tara, and Kyosuke looked on, a figure descended from out of the portal. Dressed in all black, he wore a black cape and hat and carried a matching staff that flowed with dark magic (3200/2800).

"T..that's you favorite monster?" stuttered Kyosuke.

"Yep! He was the first monster I won in a tournament, and not only is he powerful, but his magic prevents any of your traps from going off" replied Bethany, "and since he was a special summoning, I'll use my normal summoning to bring out my Magician's Valkyria!"

In another flash of light, a monster looking similar to Dark Magician Girl appeared next to the Sorcerer, giving him a small smile before facing Kyosuke (1600/1800).

"And finally, I'll use my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your trap card, since I know destroying it will take you monster with it as well."

Playing the magic card, Kyosuke could only watch in horror as the column of wind ripped over and shattered the trap card, causing Roc to howl in pain before it shattered as well.

"Now my magicians attack Kyosuke's lifepoints directly!" commanded Bethany.

Raising up their staffs, both magicians fired off two beams of energy that hit Kyosuke in the chest, causing him to double over in pain.

"Are you okay?" asked Bethany.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Kyosuke gave the thumbs-up before Bethany ended her turn.

**Bethany: 6,200 LP**

**Kyosuke: 3,400 LP**

Drawing his next card, Kyosuke looked at it in anger.

"_Why couldn't I have drawn you one turn ago? I need to sacrifice one of my ninja monsters to bring this guy out, but with him out, taking out her spellcasters would be simple."_

"Alright, your magician might be immune to traps, but he's still weak against effects, so I'll place this monster face-down and end my turn." Kyosuke said as the card appeared in front of him.

Drawing her next card, Bethany's smile grew bigger. "I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back my Chaos Command Magician to the field!"

A glowing ahnk appeared on the field as the dark robed magician stepped out of it and back onto the field.

"And now my…" started Bethany, before looking at Kyosuke's face-down monster.

"_He could be lying, but it that monster could take out my Dark Sorcerer, then I'd be in trouble," _thought Bethany,

"_what were the ninja monster's again? I don't think any of them could destroy my monsters…but maybe Claremont added some new ninja monsters…better play it safe."_

"I skip my battle phase this turn and leave it to you."

Kyosuke smiled as he flipped his face-down monster up, revealing a female ninja with green hair wearing a purple outfit (1100/200).

"Look like you fell for it," smirked Kyosuke, "that was just my Lady Ninja Yae, and even though she can't take down your monsters, she's definitely going to help, but first I'll use her effect."

Taking his newly drawn card, Kyosuke flipped it over, showing it to be another copy of Roc from the Valley of Haze, and put it back in his deck.

Feeling the wind pick up around her, Yae pulled out a rope and hook and jumped over all of Bethany's monsters before latching onto Bethany's face-downs and yanking them up, causing them to fly off the field and back into Bethany's hand.

"And now I'll sacrifice my Lady Ninja Yae for _my _favorite monster" said Kyosuke.

Yae nodded as she pulled a smoke bomb out of her belt and threw it on the ground, causing it to explode and fill Kyosuke's side of the field with smoke.

"Now it's time to meet the founder of art of ninjitsu and top ninja of them all…Ninja Master Raiken!"

As the smoke cleared, a new figure stood where Yae once was, clad in all black, his suit covered every inch of his body, except for a small opening for him to see through. On his belt were a few small weapons, but what really stood out was the katana that was strung on his back (2900/2600).

"Who's that?" asked Bethany, "that's not a ninja monster I've seen before!"

Kyosuke chuckled, "your right, Raiken was released as a promotional prize card in a few of the larger cities in Japan, I was just lucky enough to be in Osaka on the day they were holding one of those tournaments."

Bethany took a deep breath as she looked at the monster that was now staring at her and her monsters.

"_It's okay, he might be strong enough to destroy my Valkyria, but then I'll destroy him with my Dark Sorcerer and finish him off with my Chaos Commander."_

"Go ahead and attack then!" taunted Bethany.

"Oh, I will. Raiken, attack her Valkyria with your ultimate flash-step!"

Bethany watched as Raiken stood, motionless for a few more moments, until suddenly it appeared in front of her, mere inches away from her, his katana out of his sheath and at his side.

After staring at her for a few more moments, Raiken disappeared and reappeared back on Kyosuke's side,

Bethany was just about to say something, when she noticed her Magician's Valkyria suddenly falling to her knees, clutching her side before shattering.

**Bethany: 4,900 LP**

**Kyosuke: 3,400 LP**

"Luckily for you, I only have one Raiken in my deck, so my deckmaster's ability can't be used to bring out another one." smirked Kyosuke, ending his turn.

Drawing her card, Bethany only smiled as she looked at her magicians.

"Looks like you made a mistake, Kyosuke," said Bethany, "your ninja might have been stronger then two of my monsters, but my Dark Sorcerer is still stronger! "

"Now, Sorcerer of Dark Magic, attack hi ninja with Dark Flare Strike!"

As Bethany's Sorcerer began to chant and his staff began to give off dark energy, Kyosuke smiled as he tapped on his duel disk.

"Alright Raiken, it's time to use your ability, shroud flash-step!"

As Bethany's Sorcerer finished his chant, he released a ball of black energy right at Raiken, causing an explosion right upon impact.

"Alright! And that's the end of your grand ninja" exclaimed Bethany, as Tara cheered from the sidelines.

"Hm, that's what you think" replied Kyosuke.

Bethany began to question him again, as the dark figure of Raiken appeared in front of her.

Looking down at her, even though she couldn't see his mouth, his eyes help a smug expression in them.

As Raiken disappeared again and reappeared on Kyosuke's side, Bethany watched as her Sorcerer's staff suddenly broke in half, shattering. Her Sorcerer looked at his hands for a moment before clutching his stomach in stomach in pain and shattering.

"H..H..How?" asked a stupefied Bethany.

"That's the power of my Raiken," said Kyosuke, "even though he's the greatest ninja of them all, he still benefits from the other ninja's around him, and so, once per turn, by removing one ninja monster in my graveyard from play, I can negate one attack on him."

"But if I remove two ninja monsters from play, I can not only negate the attack on him, but destroy the attacking monster as well."

Continuing to smile, he pulled his Lady Ninja Yae and Strike Ninja from the graveyard and put them in his side-pocket,

"I'll…switch my other monster to defense and end my turn" said Bethany, as her Chaos Commander shielded himself with his staff.

"Fine then, I'll play my own Pot of Greed" said Kyosuke, putting his newly-drawn card in to the slot.

The grinning green jar appeared once again as Kyosuke drew two more cards.

"Then I'll place a monster in face-down defense position and let my Raiken destroy your last defense!"

Bethany turned away at the last moment, not wanting to see another of her monsters die. Only looking after she heard the sound of shattering, she found Raiken back on Kyosuke's side of the field.

"And I'll end with that."

Drawing her next card, Bethany smiled.

"_Old Vindictive Magician…with that I could at least destroy that Ninja Raiken, then maybe I could stand a chance!"_

"Alright, I'll place a card in defense mode and end my turn!"

Kyosuke drew his next card, "you now, I knew you would be that."

Bethany's smile faded as Kyosuke placed another card on his disk.

"So now I'll equip my Ninja Raiken with a new spell card, Ninjitsu Art of Total Defense!"

A card appeared on the field, bearing the image of the Strike Ninja in front of a wooden gate. What stood out the most, though, were the thousands of shurikens that were lodged in the gate, except in the area behind the Strike Ninja that formed a complete silhouette of him.

"With this card equipped to any of my ninja monster's, it makes them unaffected by spell cards, traps, or effects."

Bethany's mouth dropped as she realized what this meant for her monster's effect.

"And then, just because I can, I'll flip my White Ninja over!" said Kyosuke.

The face-down disappeared, revealing yet another ninja, this one dressed in a pure white outfit with twin tails of cloth flying behind him in the breeze (1500/800).

"And when my White Ninja is flipped over, one of your defense position monsters is destroyed. So go ahead and take out her last defense!"

The White Ninja nodded before taking out a pair of sais and leaping into the air. Giving them a quick spin in his hands before landing, he rammed the sais into the face-down card as the old magician appeared for a moment before disappearing.

"Too bad, if I would have attacked that, it would have at least saved you some lifepoints" taunted Kyosuke.

"But now it time for my ninjas to work-out a little. Alright guys, attack her directly with shuriken swarm!"

Both ninjas jumped into the air and released a wave of shurikens that hit Bethany dead-on, causing her lifepoints to plummet.

**Bethany: 500 LP**

**Kyosuke: 3,900 LP**

"I'll end my turn with that, but with the field being how it is, I doubt you'll find a way to make a comeback" said Kyosuke.

Bethany drew her next card, looking at it for only a second before slapping it on her disk.

"I'll activate Card of Sanctity!"

The sky above both duelists shone with a yellow light as coins began falling onto the ground.

"Now we both draw until we have six cards" he said, as they both refilled their hands.

"_Alright, I'm pretty sure he has only two ninjas left in his graveyard,"_ thought Bethany, looking at her new hand, _"he could either destroy one of my monsters, or negate two different attacks, chances are he'll destroy it, unless…"_

"Alright, I'll start by summoning my second Magician's Valkyria to the field in attack mode!"

A second female magician, similar to the Dark Magician Girl, but with a different outfit appeared (1600/1800).

"And then I'll lay a face-down card and end my turn!"

As the card appeared in front of Bethany, Kyosuke drew his next card.

"So, giving up on fighting back?" asked Kyosuke.

"Nope, just stalling a little" replied Bethany, "I'll activate my Call of the Haunting card to bring back my first Valkyria from the graveyard!"

As her trap card lifted, the ground in front of it burst open as another Valkyria rose up from the ground.

"So?" asked Kyosuke, "it doesn't matter if there's one of them or one-thousand! My ninja's still way strong enough to take them down!"

"Yeah, but sometime's strength isn't all that matters" answered Bethany, "my Magician's Valkyria's have an interesting effect. While one of them is on the field, you can't attack another Spellcaster without taking it out first."

"And since I have two out on the field, you can't attack either, because the first one protects the second, and the second one protects the first!"

Kyosuke looked at the field at let out a groan as Tara gave a small cheer from the sidelines.

"Alright Bethany! Way to stay alive!" yelled Tara.

"Fine fine" muttered Kyosuke, "you saved yourself for one turn, I'll just lay this face-down on the field and call it a turn."

As Bethany drew her next card, her smile grew.

"One turn was all I needed, because now I'll bring out another star in my deck."

"I'll sacrifice both of my Magician's to summon my Dark Magician!"

On the field, both Magician's Valkyria's rose their staffs together, creating a large energy field that covered the field.

When the energy died down, a male creature wearing a purple suit and holding a purple staff stood on the field (2500/2100).

"And?" asked an impatient Kyosuke.

"And" began Bethany, "I'll play two spell cards that go perfectly with my Dark Magician."

"First off is his signature card, Dark Magic Attack!"

Raising his staff high in the air, the Dark Magician released a large ball of dark energy that flew past Kyosuke's ninjas and slammed into magic and trap zone, obliterating his Ninjutsu defense card and his face-down Magic Cylinders card.

Kyosuke began to shake a little, before looking over to his Ninja and calming down a little.

"And now that your defense card is gone, I can get rid of your Ninja with this, Thousand Knives!"

The Dark Magician raised his staff once again, but this time, hundreds and hundreds of knives appeared in front of him and flew at a rapid speed towards Ninja Raiken.

Kyosuke turned his head to avoid seeing his monster being pierced like a pin cushion.

As Raiken shattered, Kyosuke began to shake with a mixture of anger and fear.

"Finally, my monster will destroy your White Ninja with Dark Magic Attack!"

S the Dark Magician began to chant, a ball of dark energy formed at the top of his staff before it was launched, hitting the White Ninja and destroying him on impact.

**Bethany: 500 LP**

**Kyosuke: 2,900 LP**

"H…h…how…" stuttered Kyosuke, "my best card…taken out…"

"Hey, it'll be okay" said Bethany, "my turns over."

Kyosuke nervously drew his next card.

"One card…face-down in defense and that'll be it."

"It's time to end this" said Bethany, "I'll Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode."

Beside the Dark Magician appeared another Spellcaster, this one clad in darker clothing, holding a black staff (1900/1700).

"And then I'll play Tribute to the Doomed!"

Discarding her Ebon Magician Curran, the ground on Kyosuke's side began to crack, until suddenly, white bandages began flying out of the ground and wrapping up the face-down monster until it finally shattered.

"And now, both of my magicians will attack with Combined Dark Crush!" shouted Bethany.

Touching their staffs together, the two magician's began to chant as a huge ball of black energy formed in-between them, growing in size until it finally flew across the field, hitting Kyosuke in the chest, causing him to hit the ground.

**Bethany: 500LP**

**Kyosuke: 0000 LP**

As the holograms faded, Bethany ran over to Kyosuke and tried helped him up. "Are you okay?"

Getting to his knees, Kyosuke began to cough as Tara rushed over to help him. Flashing them both the peace sign, Kyosuke got to his feet before turning off his duel disk. "Yep, it was a good duel, and I couldn't think of anyone better to give my data point to then you."

Bethany smiled as her duel disk began to beep. Looking down at it, she noticed the small reader on it displayed the number '3'.

"Well, take care of yourselves, I hope we can meet again in the finals." Kyosuke said, as he gave a small wave as Bethany and Tara began to walk off.

"Oh, by the way" Bethany, interjected, turning around to face Kyosuke, "do you know where…"

Bethany stopped mid-sentence when she realized that Kyosuke was no longer behind them.

"Where did he go?" asked Bethany.

"Maybe his family was rooted more deeply in the Ninjitsu ways then we thought" replied Tara.

Bethany nodded as Tara turned to face her, "So, where should we go to next?"

Bethany thought for a moment, "well, I guess since I've been in a duel, it's your turn to find one."

"Alright!"

**00000**

Back inside his study, Claremont sat in his chair, sipping a glass of wine as Alabaster entered the room.

"Sir, it seems that most of the duels have ended, and nearly seventy of the participants have already been eliminated from the tournament."

Claremont smiled as he heard the news, "very good, this is moving along faster then I thought it would. I want you to continue monitoring the duels taking place and report back to me when half of the participants have been taken out."

"Yes sir!" answered Alabaster as he made his way out of the room.

"Yes, it won't be long now."

**00000**

**Original Card:**

**Title: Ninja Master Raiken**

**Attribute: Dark**

**Type: Warrior/Effect**

**Level: 6**

**Attack: 2900**

**Defense: 2600**

**Effect: This monster may only be summoned by sacrificing a monster that includes "Ninja" in it's card name. Once per turn, when this card is attacked, you may activate one of the following effect:**

**-By removing one monster card that includes "ninja" in it's card name from your graveyard from play, you may negate the attack.**

**-By removing two monster cards that include "ninja" in their card names from your graveyard from play, you may negate the attack and destroy the attacking monster.**

**Title: Ninjitsu Art of Defense**

**Type: Equip Spell Card**

**Image: Strike Ninja standing in front of a wooden wall. Thousands of shurikens are lodged in the wall behind him, except for the area right behind him, forming a complete image of him.**

**Effect: Equip this to one card that includes "ninja" in it's card name. While this card is equipped, the equipped monster cannot be destroyed by spell cards, trap cards, or effects.**

**00000**

**Deckmaster Abilties:**

**Title: Armed Ninja**

**Effect: "Ninjitsu Art of Multiplication"- When a monster on your side of the field whose card name includes "ninja" destroys an opponents attack position monster, you may discard one card from you hand, then special summon another copy of the attacking monster from your hand or deck.**

**Title: The Illusory Gentlemen**

**Effect: "Unsure Fate"- Choose one Spellcaster type monster on your side of the field, the choose one Spellcaster type monster in your hand whose level is equal to the chosen monster on your field. Show the card in your hand to your opponent and then flip a coin and call it. If you call it right, you may special summon the chosen monster from your hand to the field, if you chose wrong then remove the chosen monster from your hand from play.**

**00000**

**Now that Bethany's won her first duel, it's Tara's turn to find an opponent, but before she can do that, the two stumble upon a duel that has more then data chips to win or lose. Find out what I mean in the next chapter entitled, "David and Goliath."**


	4. David and Goliath

**Chapter 4: David and Goliath**

**00000**

**When I first began dueling, I found that certain tribes of monsters were usually only used by certain people. Women would tend to use the Harpies or Amazoness while guys liked the Dark World fiends, but right now I'm watching** **with one duelist using a group of monsters that have received quite a bad reputation. **

** I just hope the duelists doenst match the monsters.**

**00000  
**

After her duel with Kyosuke, Bethany and Tara decided to walk through the forest, in hopes of finding more duels on the other side.

As they continued to walk, Bethany told Tara about the duelists she had seen on the bus.

"Wow, so there are two top champions here on the island trying to win the whole thing" remarked Tara.

"Yeah, and who knows, there might be more here that we haven't seen," added Bethany, "hey, what other kinds of decks do you think we'll have to face here?"

Tara thought for a moment, "well, with three-hundred duelists here, I'm guessing they'll be almost every kind of deck imaginable here."

After a few more seconds of walking, Bethany and Tara looked forward to see a set of trees the opened into a small clearing that Tara suspected was in the middle of the forest.

As the two made their way into the clearing they came upon two men, standing inside the middle of the clearing, both with activated duel disks on.

The first man was around twenty years old and wore a black, leather jacket and tattered jeans with seven piercing in each ear.

The second man looked in his mid-teens and wore a black long-sleeve shirt with black pants and black boots.

"Hey kid!" shouted the man in the leather jacket, "you should have just kept your mouth shut, but now I'll have to send you back to your home crying!"

The younger kid simply shrugged his shoulders as he placed his deck in the slot.

"The name's not kid, it's Tim, Tim Skyler."

"Yeah, whatever, you can just call me Bomber!" said the biker as he loaded his deck as well.

**Tyler: 8,000 LP**

**Bomber: 8,000 LP**

"You might not be afraid of me, but I'll bet your wet your pants at the site of my deckmaster, come on out Black Tyranno!"

A loud roar could be heard as the giant, black dinosaur stomped out from the trees, causing Tara and Bethany to let out a small yelp.

Tyler continued to look on in boredom before patting the front of his pants.

"Well, wadya know, still dry" he mocked as he pulled a card out from his deck, "I guess it's time for my deckmaster to show himself, or should I say _themselves_. Show yourselves Dark Scorpion Burglars!"

Placing the card in the slot, it only took a moment until five blurs ran past Bomber and stopped behind Tyler.

The first figure was a muscled man that wore a tight tank shirt and tank with a eye patch over one eye and a pair of guns strapped to his belt. The second figure was a younger man wearing the same kind of outfit with glasses and yellow hair, carrying a knife. The third figure seemed to be the only female in the group, wearing a black top and red pants with a whip coiled on her belt. The forth figure was a young boy wearing the same outfit with yellow hair and a large mallet strapped to his back. The final figure was the largest of the all, easily towering over the rest of the group, with muscles bulging and a large hammer in his hands.

Bomber let out a laugh as he looked at Tyler's Deckmaster. "Heh, your deckmaster…errr…masters might outnumber mine, but mine could devour all of yours in one bite!"

"Whatever" Tyler said as he drew his opening hand, "I hope you don't mind if I take the first move."

Drawing his next card, Tyler placed down a magic card, "first I'll play my Graceful Charity card."

As the angel descended once again, Tyler drew three more cads before handing two of the to the angel before she flew back into the sky.

"Next I'll summon Cliff the Trap Remover in attack mode." Behind him, the bespectacled man looked at the rest of the group before jumping above Tyler and landing in front of him, knife clutched in his hand (1200/1000).

"Finally, I'll play two cards face-down and end my turn."

Bomber drew his first card before letting out a chuckle. "First I think I'll summon my Sabersaurus in attack mode."

A large red triceratops appeared in front of Bomber, raising his head to let out a roar (1900/500).

"And then, I'll special summon my Gilasaurus in attack mode as well!"

Another dinosaur appeared in front of Bomber, this one smaller and looking more like a raptor (1400/400).

"My dino's effect would allow you to summon a monster from your, but since it's so early in the game, I don't think…" Bomber's sentence was cut short when Tyler pulled out a monster card from his graveyard.

"…you'd have one…"

"Looks like you were wrong," Tyler said, placing the card on his disk. Behind him, the largest of the Dark Scorpions tightened his grip on his hammer before walking out and taking his place next to Cliff (1800/1500).

"Normally I'd discard Gorg the Strong in order to bring him back myself, but looks like I should thank you for helping me out."

Bomber became visually angry at Tyler's words before gaining his composure, "like it matters, my dinosaurs are still way more stronger then your two thieves. Now my Sabersaurus, attack his strongman with your tri-horn trample!"

The dinosaur let out another roar before it began to run at Gorg at top speed.

Tyler only continued to smile as he pressed a button on his disk and his facedown card lifted up.

"I activate Mask of Weakness, causing your dino to lose 700 attack points!"

From his trap card, a large mask flew out of it and attached itself onto the Sabersaurus. As the dinosaur tried to shake the mask from his face, Gorg raised his hammer and brought it down on the dino's head causing him to shatter.

"No way!" yelled Bomber.

"Yeah way, and now that Gorg has damaged your lifepoints, his ability kicks in, and I think I'll use it to spin your other dino to the top of your deck."

Bomber could only watch as Gorg made his way over to his side of the field and grabbed hold of his Gilasaurus's neck. Even as the dinosaur tried to free himself from the grip, Gorg held strong until he lifted the dinosaur off the ground and threw him out off of the field.

"You might think this your little abilities saved you, but this was only the first round" remarked Bomber as he placed one facedown card on the field, "I'll end my turn with that."

**Tyler: 8,000 LP**

**Bomber: 7,400 LP**

**0000**

"Hey" whispered Bethany to Tara, "I thought only thugs and thieves used the Dark Scorpions nowadays."

Tara shook her head before leaning over to Bethany, "even though they're weak, they're effects are pretty good, and I heard that Claremont added in a few more Dark Scorpion cards in the latest set."

**00000**

Drawing his card, Tyler placed another card on his disk, "I play Pot of Greed."

As the smiling green pot appeared in front of Tyler, he drew his two cards before smiling at the last one.

"Hey Bomber," Tyler yelled, making the older man look at him, "exactly how much do you know about the Dark Scorpions?"

Bomber let out a laugh, "why would I spend my time learning about some third-rate group of pickpockets?"

This time it was Tyler who grew angry at his opponents comment, "for your information, the Dark Scorpions weren't some "group of third-rate pickpockets." In fact, they were like the Robin Hoods of Ancient Egypt. They would steal from those whose used their money and power to make the less fortunate's lives more miserable and give to those who couldn't help themselves."

"And the thing that separted them from other groups at the time was their willingness to accept anyone into their ranks. Granted, many of them would stay in their base and guard it from intruders, a few actually joined them a some missions, that is until one night, when the Dark Scorpions were ambushed by one of their past target's guard fleet. In that one night, many of the lesser members of the Dark Scorpions were caught and hauled away to jail, but Don Zaloog promised to free them all from their prison, and that day is today!"

Placing his card on the disk, a magic card appeared baring the image of Don Zaloog standing in front of a prison wall with a large hole placed in it.

"I play Jailbreak, and to activate it, I only need for either Don Zaloog or two other members of the Dark Scorpion gang to be on the field, and now that it's on the field, I can summon some of the Dark Scorpions that have been locked away, and I'll start out by summoning Dark Scorpion- Ivara the Prophetess!"

Next to Gorg, a middle-aged woman appeared on the field. Wearing a tight, black top and long, red skirt, her black hair was held back with a white ribbon, but the thing that stood out most about her was the fact that her eyes were hidden by numerous straps of cloth that completely covered both eyes (1300/400).

"I'll end my turn with that" said Tyler.

"Alright, and my turn begins!" yelled Bomber.

"Yep, and know Ivara's effect activates!" interrupted Tyler, pointing to Ivara.

Raising her hands out in front of her, Ivara body began to glow.

"What's going on with her?" asked a confused Bomber.

"Ivara was both a prophet and a member of the Dark Scorpions." answered Tyler, "she joined them after she foresaw the devastation that the upper-class would cause for those less fortunate. After joining their group, she became a valuable asset for them, using her abilities to warn the group whenever danger was around. But on the night of the raid on the Dark Scorpions, Ivara had developed a terrible sickness, making her unable to warn the rest of the group, but know that she's out of jail, she can use her ability once again to help her team!"

"And here's how it works" began Tyler, "at the start of each of your turns, I call out one type of monster, and if the first monster you summon is of that type, then each of my Dark Scorpion monsters gains 500 attack points for that turn, and judging from your deck, I think I'll guess dinosaur."

Bomber grunted as he placed a card on the disk and a large, green dinosaur appeared, his body covered with red scales (1200/2000).

Ivara's glow began to become stronger as Cliff and Gorg began to glow as well. (1200/1000) - (1700/1000), (1800/1500) - (2300/1500), (1300/400) - (1800/400)

"And then I'll special summon my Gilasaurus as well," Bomber said, as his raptor took the field again (1400/400), "do you have another monster you can summon?"

Tyler shook his head, as Bomber continued his turn, "and then I'll place one card facedown and hand it over to you."

As Tyler drew his next card all three of his monsters regained their normal stats.

"_I don't understand why he's place both of those monsters in attack position. Maybe he has some sort of power-up in his hand that he was going to use. If that's true, I'd better take them both out this turn."_

"Now Gorg, attack the dinosaur on the left!" Gorg raised his hammer and ran over to attack the dinosaur, but as soon as he raised his hammer to attack, the dinosaur raised his tail to defend, causing Gorg to lose his balance and fall to the ground.

"Heh, looks like to underestimated the strength on my Black Stego. If he's attacked at any time, he can be placed in defense mode and catch his attacker off guard."

Tyler glared at his opponent as Gorg made his way back over to his side of the field, "I'll put my other two monsters into defense mode and end my turn."

**Tyler: 7,800 LP**

**Bomber: 7,400 LP**

As Ivara and Cliff crouched down and held their arms up in defense, Bomber drew his next card.

"Don't forget, Ivara's still on the field, and I'll use her effect once again and guess dinosaur!" yelled Tyler, as his monster began to glow once again.

"Like it'll make any difference, I'll play my own Graceful Charity!" Bomber shouted as the angel descended on his side of the field.

"And now, I'll use my Graceful Charity just like you were going to, only my monsters will actually have some power to them, but first, I'll sacrifice both of the monsters on my side of the field to summon my Super Conductor Tyranno!"

A loud roar pierced the forest air, causing Bethany and Tara to jump in fright as even Tyler's eyes opened in surprise. A large dinosaur appeared in front of Bomber, half of his body covered in metal plating, his height towered over the forest (3300/1400).

"And then I'll activate my facedown card, Fossil Excavation!"

Bomber's trap card rose up, revealing the image of four creatures hard at work digging up an area.

"All I have to do is discard one card, and then I get to revive a monster from my graveyard, such as my Ultimate Tyranno!"

Beside Bomber's first monster, the ground began to crack, until finally it burst open and a large T-Rex, almost as big as the Super Conductor Tyranno rose out form the ground (3000/2200).

"Of course, thanks to this trap card, my Ultimate Tyranno loses his ability to attack all of your monsters, but my deckmaster's ability will more then make up for it! Now my Super Tyranno, attack his Gorg the Strong with Jurassic Claw!"

The half-metal dinosaur let out a roar before raising his claw and bringing it down on Gorg, shattering him on impact.

"And now Ultimate Tyranno, attack that woman with your Seismic Crunch!"

This time, the Ultimate Tyranno made his way over to Tyler's side of the field, and in one swift movement, brought his head down and caught Ivara in it's jaw before she could scream.

**00000**

From the sidelines, Bethany and Tara looked as if they were going to be sick, until Tara noticed that Bomber's last attack caused Tyler's lifepoint counter to go down.

"Hey, his monster was in defense, that shouldn't have cost him anything!" she shouted.

"Hehe, normally you'd be right, but my deckmaster's ability is known as "Survival of the Fittest", and with it all dinosaur monsters I own get a trampling effect!"

Tyler's eyes opened once again in surprise as Cliff reared back in fear. "Don't worry" Tyler said to comfort his remaining monster.

"I'll end my turn with that" Bomber said, his voice filled with pride.

**Tyler: 4,200 LP**

**Bomber: 7,400 LP**

Drawing his next card, Tyler looked at it as he began to formulate a plan. "I'll summon Dark Scorpion- Chick the Yellow in attack mode."

Behind him, the shortest member of the group began to jump up and down before making his way in front of Tyler.

Bomber began to laugh, "what's that little kid going to do to my dinosaurs? I mean, other then provide them with a little snack!"

Tyler ignored the comment as he placed his next card down, "and then I'll play Secret Pass to the Treasure, allowing Chick to attack you directly!"

A treasure map appeared in Chick's hands, and after taking a few second to read over it, he took his mallet in his hands before disappearing from sight.

"Hey, where'd that little shrimp go?" asked Bomber. A moment later, Chick reappeared behind him, slamming his mallet into Bomber's side, causing his to fall in pain.

"You…little…" Bomber choked out, as he gasped for air.

"And since he damaged your lifepoints, I get to spin your Super Conductor Tyranno back to the top of your deck!"

Bomber's dinosaur let out a roar as it disappeared from the field.

"So what! You still have my other dino to deal with!" shouted Bomber as he finally stood up again.

"Not for long" replied Tyler, "I play Giant Trunade to remove that trap card off the field!"

A large storm began to pick up on the filed, as both Bomber and Tyler's flew off the field and into each other hands. As the winds died down, Bomber's other dinosaur began to roar as he shattered.

"You punk!!" shouted Bomber, "you'll pay for that!"

"Yeah yeah, like I care, I'll end my turn by replaying my Jailbreak card and resetting my other card facedown."

**Tyler: 4,200 LP**

**Bomber: 6,400 LP**

An extremely angry Bomber drew his next card, knowing already what it was.

"You know kid," said Bomber, pointing his finger at Tyler, "you're the first kid I've dueled that been able to take out my biggest dinosaurs, it shows you got guts, but I'm still going to clean up in this duel and send you packing!"

Tyler scoffed at the remark as he waited for Bomber to continue his turn.

"I'll just replay these two cards face-down, and I know you already know what once of them is, so you'd better be ready for it!" warned Bomber as the two cards appeared in front of him,

Before Tyler could even draw his next card, Bomber had already raised his Fossil Excavation card once again, and after discarding another card, the ground began to shake and crack, but this time it was his Super Conductor Tyranno that burst through the ground.

"Hehe, this card makes bringing out my strongest monsters a piece of cake." said Bomber, "I just have to discard them with the same card, and it brings them right back!"

Tyler drew his next card before giving it an odd look.

"Next I'll summon Don Zaloog's main lady to the field, Dark Scorpion- Meanae The Thorn!"

Behind him, Meanae looked over at Don Zaloog and, after brushing his arm with her hand, stepped up beside Chick, taking her whip off of her belt and unraveling it.

"Then I'll play Monster Reborn to bring Gorg back to the field."

The shining ahnk appeared on the field as Gorg walked through it and rejoined the rest of his team.

"And finally, I place one card face-down, and since that's all the cards in my hand, I'll end my turn."

Drawing his next card, Bomber let out a large laugh.

"Care to let me in on the joke?" asked a somewhat annoyed Tyler.

"Yeah!" cried Bomber, trying to hold back his laughter, "_you're_ the joke here! With the card I just drew, your fate's sealed!"

"First off though, I'll activate my face-down card!"

Pressing the button on his disk, his trap face raised up, revealing the image of a Prehistoric plane being destroyed by meteors.

"This is my Survival Instinct trap card and with it, I can remove any number of dinosaurs from my graveyard, and for each one I gain 400 lifepoints!" yelled Bomber.

All around him, small meteors began to descend from the sky, remarkably enough avoiding Bomber and his monsters. As the meteor shower died down, ghost-like specters rose out from the ground and flew into Bombers duel disk.

"And just so you know, every time I had to discard a card, it was also a dinosaur monster!" added Bomber.

**Tyler: 4,200 LP**

**Bomber: 8,800 LP**

"And now, I'll summon the strongest monster in my deck! Get ready to meet Tyranno Infinity!"

The air in front of Bomber began to swirl as Bomber placed the card down. Suddenly, the loudest roar yet could be heard as a dinosaur's head poked itself out of the swirling void. A few moments later, the void opened up wide enough, so that the largest T-Rex of them all stomped it way through (?/0000).

"And his attack points are enough to 1000 times the number of dinosaurs I've removed from play, and thanks to my trap card, that seven monsters in all!"

The large dino let out another roar as his attack points shot through the roof (?/0000) - (7000/0000).

"Oh my god" gasped Tara, staring at the overgrown beast, "in just one move, that guy pumped up his lifepoints and summoned out a monster that's stronger then the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! I don't see how that kid can win now."

Bethany could only nod in agreement.

**00000**

"And finally, I've move my deckmaster to the field!" said Bomber, as the dinosaur behind him stomped up to join the other two (2600/1800).

"Now my dinosaurs, time to eat!" cried Bomber, pointing at Tyler's monsters.

As each of the dinosaurs let out a roar, they began stomping over to Tyler's side of the field, only to each hit an invisible barrier and be repelled back to their side.

"My Negate Attack card stopped your attack" said Tyler as he placed the trap card in the graveyard.

"Whatever, like one turn will help you, any card that could help you now, like Lightening Vortex, would require you to discard some cards, but since your hand is empty, it's all over for you. I'll end my turn and let you try to pull out a miracle." Bomber said.

Drawing his next card, Tyler quickly placed it in his disk.

"I'll play Reinforcement of the Army, and take one level four warrior from my deck and add it to my hand." Tyler said as he searched through his deck.

"A lotta good that'll do ya" remarked Bomber.

"Oh, but it will help, because now I'll summon the leader of the Dark Scorpions, Don Zaloog!"

Behind Tyler, the eye-patch wearing man nodded to him, as he made his way to the front, where each of the other members of the gang waited, smiling s their leader came to the field.

"Big deal" scoffed Bomber, "you summoned another Dark Scorpion member, how is he going to help you?"

"Look at my field" answered Tyler, "do you see anything special?"

Bomber looked at Tyler's monster, "you've summoned your deckmaster to the field."

"Close, but not quite" said Tyler, pointing behind him. When Bomber looked back, he saw the images of all five members of the Dark Scorpions, still behind Tyler.

"It's true that I summoned all of the members that make up the Dark Scorpion Burglars, but that's different then summoning the Dark Scorpion Burglars themselves, but now it's time for my deckmaster's ability to take effect! For it to work, I needed Don Zaloog and four other members of the Dark Scorpions on the field, but before it takes effect, I'll activate the face-down card that's been in play since the beginning of the game."

The last face-down card on Tyler's field rose up, revealing each of the Dark Scorpions member in mid-attack.

"I play Dark Scorpion combination, and since each of my Scorpions in on the field, it allows them each to attack your lifepoints directly, of course, you'll only lose 400 points for each attack, but it'll work! Alright guys, go get him!"

The Dark Scorpions each nodded their heads before jumping forward.

Completely avoiding the dinosaurs of the field, Gorg and Cliff each ran forward, smashing their hammers into Bomber, causing him to fall to the ground. Behind him, Cliff came up and jabbed his knife into his back. At the same time, Meanae reared her whip back, snapping it forward on Bomber's back while Don Zaloog took out his pistols and fired a few rounds at Bombers hands.

**Tyler: 4,200 LP**

**Bomber: 6,800 LP**

As Bomber lay still for a few moments, Tara and Bethany started at him, waiting for any sign of moment, until he finally began to twitch. Letting out a few grunts, Bomber made his way back to his feet before glaring at Tyler.

"You think that was fun kid?" he snarled, "well just you wait, cause that was nothing!"

"Your right, but now because each of the Dark Scorpions damaged your lifepoints, all of their effects kick in!"

Bomber gulped as each of the Dark Scorpions eyed his field.

"First, Chick is going to spin your deckmaster off the field!"

The Black Tyranno roared as it disappeared from in front of Bomber and reappeared behind him.

"Then Gorg is going to send Tyranno Infinity to the top of your deck."

In a flash, the second dinosaur also disappeared from the field.

"Next, Cliff is going to get rid of that Fossil Excavation card, sending your last dino packing!"

Cliff gave a smile as he threw his knife across the field, hitting the trap card and causing it to shatter along with Bomber's monster.

"Then Meanae is going to grab a card from my deck with the phrase 'Dark Scorpion' in it's title."

Nodding her head, Meanae launched her whip into Tyler's deck, pulling out a card and handing it to Tyler.

"Finally, Don Zaloog is going to send the top two cards from you r deck to your graveyard."

Firing off his two guns at Bomber's deck, Bomber let out a grunt as he sent his Tyranno Infinity and Call of the Haunted to the graveyard.

"And now," began Tyler, "my deckmaster's ability activates! Its called Dark Scorpion Sacrifice, and to use it I need to have Don Zaloog and four other members on the field, but I can send as many of my monsters to the graveyard, and for each I'll subtract their attack points from your lifepoints!"

Each of the Dark Scorpions of Tyler's side of the field began to look at each other, and then as each of then began to glow, and explosion rocked both sides of the field causing Bomber's lifepoints to plummet.

**Tyler: 4,200 LP**

**Bomber: 400 LP**

Bomber continued to cough as the smoke cleared, trying to glare at Tyler who stood smirking on the other side of the field.

"You might think that was a good idea, but now look at the field" said Bomber in a fit of both coughing and laughter, "I might only have 400 lifepoints left, but that little stunt left you with no monsters or traps to protect yourself!"

Tyler only continued to smile as he held out the remaining card in his hand.

"That's what you think right now, but you'll change your mind once I play the card Meanae brought to me."

Placing the card in his disk, an image of the Dark Scorpions standing in front of an open jail cell, the bars blown clean off and two guards laying on the floor, appeared in front of him.

"It's called Dark Scorpion Breakout, and it lets me revive five members of the Dark Scorpion from my graveyard!"

A light began to shine on Tyler's side of the field, as the images of Don Zaloog, Gorg, Meanae, Cliff, and Ivara appeared on the field.

"Fortunately for you, this card stops my monsters from attacking this turn, but unfortunately for you, it doesn't stop them from activating my deckmaster's ability!"

Bomber began to step back, trying to find a way to escape as each of Tyler's monsters began to glow.

"Alright my Dark Scorpions, finish the job!" yelled Tyler.

As a second explosion rocked the field, Bomber flew back, hitting his head on a nearby tree and knocking him out.

"Six points, pretty good." Taking a moment to check his disk, Tyler walked over to Bethany and Tara.

"So, are you both okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're fine," replied Bethany, "that was an incredible duel! But we were wondering, why run a Dark Scorpion deck?"

Tyler let out a chuckle, "well, I use to run a hand control deck, then a deck devastation deck, and then a field control deck, but a got bored with all of them and wanted to combine all three of them, and the Dark Scorpions seemed to be the best choice."

Tara and Bethany nodded at his explanation before Bethany's face lit-up.

"Oh! By the way, my name's Bethany and her name's Tara."

Tyler extended his hand, which Bethany shook, "and mine's Tyler. Hey, why don't we head out of here and continue this conversation somewhere else before he wakes up" Tyler said, pointing to Bomber.

"By the way." Bethany started, "what did that guy mean when he said you should have minded your own business?"

"Oh that?" replied Tyler, "I caught him trying to take some rare cards from a duelist he beat and I helped the kid run off before he could get ahold of them."

**00000**

In his study, Claremont sat staring into the fire inside his fireplace as Alabaster reentered the room.

"Sir, as of five minutes ago, over half of the duelists have been eliminated." he said, as Claremont turned to face him.

"Anything else?" he asked.

"Well, you see" began Alabaster, "we received word of a duelists that was stealing cards from other duelists, we're dispatching guards right now to escort him off of the island."

"Now now" started Claremont, getting up from his chair, "let's not be too hasty. Tell your guards just to watch him closely, but do not bother him right now."

Alabaster gave Claremont a look of disbelief before nodding his head and leaving the room once again.

As the room grew quiet, Claremont began to shake a little before falling unconscious into his chair.

From the shadows, a figure emerged. Dressed in a black tuxedo, he wore a black top hat on his head and a white mask that completely covered his face.

Taking a moment to look at Claremont's body, he pulled a cell phone from his pocket and pressed one of the speed-dial buttons.

"That was close," he said to the person on the phone, "I know you wanted to keep that dino-duelist on the island, but I don't see why he's that important."

"Dear Puppet Master" came a sweet, feminine voice from the phone, "he's a simple man that can be easily manipulated when we need him later. You of all people should know about the joys of manipulating people."

"Yes, I understand" replied the Puppet Master.

"Good. For know I want you to continue controlling that Claremont man and make sure that only the best make it to the top. Send out those eliminators that were hired to take out some of the duelists, and if needed, I have some 'eliminators' of my own that I can send out."

"Understood" answered the Puppet Master, as he shut his phone and made his way back into the corner.

**00000 **

**Title: Jailbreak**

**Spell Card**

**Image: Don Zaloog standing in front of a large hole blown in the side of a jail cell wall.**

**Text: This card can only be played when either "Don Zaloog" or two other monsters with "Dark Scorpion" in their title or is named "Cliff the Trap Remover" are on the field. While this card is on the field, you may summon "Dark Scorpion- Ivara the Prophetess", "Dark Scorpion- Yuuya the Blast Master", "Dark Scorpion- Marco the Distraction", or "Dark Scorpion- Alia the Temptress". If this card is removed from the field while any of these monsters are on the field, destroy those monsters.**

**Title: Ivara the Prophetess**

**Monster Card**

**Attribute: Dark**

**Type: Warrior**

**Level: 4**

**Attack: 1300**

**Defense: 400**

**Effect: This card can only be summoned while "Jailbreak" is on the field, if "Jailbreak" is removed from the field, destroy this card. At the beginning of each of your opponent's standby phases you may name one type of monster. If the first monster your opponent normal summons, special summons, or flip summons is that type of monster, raise the attack points of all monsters on your side of the field with either "Dark Scorpion" in their title or are named wither "Don Zaloog" or "Cliff the Trap Remover" by 500 points.**

**Title: Dark Scorpion Breakout**

**Quick-Play Spell Card**

**Image: Don Zaloog and the rest of the Dark Scorpion gang standing in front of a jail cell. The bars have been blow off of the wall while two guards lay on the floor.**

**Text: This card can only be played when there are no monster on your side of the field and at least five monsters in your monsters that either have "Dark Scorpion" in their title or are named "Don Zaloog" or "Cliff the Trap Remover". Special summon five of those monsters to your field in attack position. These monsters cannot attack during the same turn they are special summoned.**

**00000  
**

**Deckmaster Abilities:**

**Black Tyranno: "Survival of the Fittest"- When a Dinosaur type monster battles a monster on your opponents side of the field and whose defense is lower then your monsters attack, subtract the difference from your opponents lifepoints.**

**Dark Scorpion Burglars: "Dark Scorpion Sacrifice"- This ability can only be activated while Don Zaloog and four different monsters with either "Dark Scorpion" in their title or are named "Cliff the Trap Remover". Send any number of those monsters to your graveyard and subtract their attack points from your opponents  
lifepoints.**

**00000 **

**If you read the text on the "Jailbreak" card, you know there are more Dark Scorpions for Tyler to play, and don't worry, because you'll see him duel again soon enough in the future.**

**But now it's Tara's turn. Next chapter you'll not only see Tara dueling, but you'll also find out which famous duelist is closely related to her, but can Tara's skills and her family's deck help her defeat a duelist whose deck contains some of the toughest fighters in the game? Find out in the next chapter entitled "Sky High".**


End file.
